I'm a new member and appreciate the opportunity to ask for information from those with more experience.

I have a 2004 Pleasure Way Excel TS [Class B RV] and live in central Oklahoma. In the winter months the average night temperature is in the 20's and 30's. It can certainly, however, get down to lower temps [teens and below] but usually not for long.

Last year I had my RV completely winterized and used it only to keep house battery strong and run my generator once a month. I'd like to use it to camp this winter.

This year I'd like to put RV antifreeze in the black and gray tanks and run a space heater when temps below freezing for everything above the floor. It is in covered storage with one side open to the west. Does that sound like a safe way to winterize?

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If you are not going to be actively using the coach, then you need to winterize all the lines.

If you are going to use the coach occasionally throughout the winter, then you also have to winterize all the lines. It sucks but it's just the way to do it right. Trying to heat the rv with electric to keep it from freezing is possible, but lets say the breaker trips overnight. Now you have a freeze condition and pipes burst in no time when its below freezing.

I use my coach all winter long, the day before a trip I fill it up with water and clear all the lines, then keep it heated until I take off. When I get back home I drain and clear all the lines before I unpack. Once you get it down it takes me 30 minutes to winterize, 15 to bring it out of storage mode. I use a 50/50 mix of antifreeze since I drain the lines after flushing. Gets below 0 here in Colorado in the middle of winter.

Final opinion, don't rely on an electric heater to protect the lines - not worth the what if in my opinion.

Same thread re winterizing PleasureWay Excel TS and using during winter

I am not a DIY'er but am willing to try. My questions will reveal the extent to which I'm not a DIY'er and am at the most basic level of understanding on things mechanical! When you [nukerj] say "fill with water" do you mean fill the fresh/potable water tank? I presume then I decide whether I want to use the hot water heater [would have to open the bypass valves] or not for my winter trip. Then, on return, you "drain and clear all lines". Does that mean you will have emptied your gray and black tanks, drain your fresh water tank, and then somehow blow out the lines?? Or, my manual talks about connecting a hose on the inlet side of my water pump with other end of hose in gallon of RV antifreeze and letting the antifreeze run through the lines by turning on the hot/cold water taps. If you do that, then you don't have to blow out the lines, right?

Last winter I had my RV winterized at an RV service center [same re having it unwinterized].

Mef,
Yes, I fill the freshwater tank the night before and leave a heater in my utility bay to keep the freshwater line from freezing(I only do this because it takes 20-30 minutes to fill my 100gal tank), the rest of the coach remains winterized until I am on the road. You can fill the morning of departure if you have it budgeted into your timeline.
Do not fire up the pump or flush out the antifreeze until you are ready to keep the unit heated. Trailers typically will freeze when traveling down the road when its below 35* out, even with the furnace running. Our old 5th wheel with the furnace running nonstop would keep the air temp in the trailer 13* higher than the ambient outside, a trailer in motion has horrible thermal properties due to speed induced wind chill!

traveling with a trailer in the winter is adventurous due to the temps you will encounter. It can be done though.

You can winterize yourself easily using the bypass kit for the water pump.
Winterize trailer:
1. Drain freshwater tank, ensure black tank and grey tank are as empty as possible
2. Bypass water heater with valve
3. Drain water heater - Open relief valve as well to drain quickly, look out for splashing!(do not put any antifreeze directly into water heater)
4. Place suction tube into rv antifreeze - turn on pump
5. Open faucets one at a time starting from closest to pump (this conserves as much antifreeze as possible)
6. Close each faucet once you see pink (I usually do hot first then cold) let the cold run 1 second of pink to fill p-trap with antifreeze.
7. Move to the next faucet or shower and repeat
8. Turn off water heater bypass with the heater drain plug removed wait until light pink comes out of the water heater, turn off pump.
9. Place a jug under your low point drains, open all the faucets, open low point drains and capture the antifreeze to use next time.
10. Put a small amount of antifreeze in the black tank to protect knife valve- the grey tank already has plenty in it from the winterizing.
11. You are all ready for winter. Travel this way until you are at your destination.

De-winterize at destination:
1. Fill water tank either at location (this is preferred if you are traveling a long way) or before you depart.
2. Close all low point drains, faucets, leave water heater drain plug out.
3. Fire up the water pump with the water heater bypass turned off, watch for clear water from water heater drain. Shut pump off, plug water heater back up.
4. Turn water pump back on, clear all the hot water faucets first(this will take a while for the first one as the tank has to fill with clean water),turn on water heater, then clear the cold water lines.
5. Ensure furnace is running or you have a sufficient heat source in the wetbay to prevent frozen pipes. (I used a 1500watt heater when on shore power)

If you are packing up to travel in freezing weather again, you will have to repeat this procedure to travel, it's a small pain but well worth the peace of mind when you arrive at your next destination and everything works without flooding the rv.

I use a 50/50 mix of rv antifreeze and water, it's still good to below zero and saves a little money. I live in the middle of Colorado and have never had a burst pipe or valve.

I thank you very much for this information, nukerj. There are so many terms I'm trying to become familiar with.

My RV is parked 10 mi from where I live so I can't quickly run out to actually see what you're referring to. When I go out there in a couple of days for a short weekend trip I'll try to identify on my RV everything you're referring to. My RV is one of those very small ones [class B] on a van [Ford] chassis.

For example, I don't know whether it has a bypass kit for the water pump but did google that to see what looks like and will see -- if not, I'll purchase one.

Then I'll try to figure out which is the hot water heater relief valve, bypass valve and drain plug -- I think I can find those things.

In step 8 when you refer to turning off the hot water heater bypass and waiting until light pink comes out of water heater, I'm confused. I thought no antifreeze is to go in the hot water heater.

Further down in the de-winterize section, #5, you refer to a wetbay -- what is that?

Thanks very much and I also understand if this is requesting too much detail! mef

One thing a Pleasureway doesn't have is a wet bay (I used to own a 2003). The fresh, black and grey tanks are all outside and will freeze, the water line from the pump is also outside for most of it's run. You can do as you suggest, flushing the toilet with pink stuff and using a space heater but you won't be able to use your plumbing system for dishes or showers. You will have to use bottled water for your consumption and if you pour any down the drain follow it up with pink stuff. Your tanks will limit you to a few days.

Pleasureway models of that vintage normally have the Hot Water Heater under the rear bed...along with bypass valves.

I found I could use the PW to travel south and then turn on the plumbing when we got to a a place that didn't freeze...somewhat limited use but usually we were south far enough in a couple of days.

Another issue we had was the cold falling off the windows and the condensation dripping off the metal window frames...we could not get south fast enough. IMHO those Class B units are best used for the other three seasons.

Very helpful information, Polyian. Thanks very much. I do have a couple of questions about what you're saying and will follow up with those tomorrow. It's all beginning to make more sense and that's a good thing! Thanks, mef

We winterize our Motorhome and simply use it in a winterized state. This means no hot water and flushing the toilet as needed with a jug of water that has a bit of RV antifreeze in it. We then drink bottled water and have some other jugs for cooking & cleanup. The tank heaters keep the gray and black water tanks sufficiently warm. Before going home we dump the tanks and add a bit of antifreeze to the bottom. Works fine for us. Lots of day trips and some overnight / weekend.

I don't like the taste of the antifreeze in the lines so I blow them out with a compressor instead and use it only for a tiny amount in the pump and in the sink + shower p-traps.

Thank you, wanderso,
I think this may be the best approach for my needs. When you say "tank heaters", what does this mean? mef

Mef...your PW doesn't have tank heaters nor does it have a heated wet bay compartment that the furnace can keep warm. Your Black, Grey and Fresh will all freeze, along with most of the plumbing that runs outside of the cabin area. You can avoid freezing by flushing pink stuff in the grey and black but you will have to carry a fresh water container inside the RV and not use the fresh water system, including the pump and hot water heater.

This is correct. My method works fine without the need for holding tank heaters - just the pink antifreeze for flushing if you need to use the "facilities" and its best to dump any small quantities of water in the toilet rather than down the sink as you avoid any water in narrower pipes. (Toilet sits directly on top of the black water tank). We enjoy having use of ours throughout the year.

Thanks for the clarification from wanderso and Polyian. Actually, having use of the "facility" is more important to me than any of the other conveniences and carrying jugs with antifreeze mixture for that purpose will work fine.

I really appreciate everyone's assistance in helping this novice understand. Now I'm willing to go ahead and use my RV for some winter weekend hiking trips around the state -- last year I was so unclear about what I could and could not do that I just didn't chance it. mef

Thanks for the clarification from wanderso and Polyian. Actually, having use of the "facility" is more important to me than any of the other conveniences and carrying jugs with antifreeze mixture for that purpose will work fine.

I really appreciate everyone's assistance in helping this novice understand. Now I'm willing to go ahead and use my RV for some winter weekend hiking trips around the state -- last year I was so unclear about what I could and could not do that I just didn't chance it. mef

Enjoy, we used our PW that way for 4 years travelling through the cold going south. One trick some PW owners were doing that I saw at a Rally was to cut the silver insulation material to fit the windows. They used duct tape to fix magnets around the edges of the insulation. They stored the finished product under the mattresses. Apparently makes a big difference. You can buy rolls of that stuff cheap at the Home Despot